GrowTH privacy notice - guests
This notice contains details about the personal information which This is GrowTH Ltd (‘GrowTH’) collects about you, what GrowTH does with this information, the basis on which the information is processed and your rights in relation to this information.
What information do we collect about you?
We collect and process the following information about you:
- Your personal details such as your name, gender, date of birth, e-mail address, telephone number, nationality, marital status and National Insurance number
- Copies of your identification documentation
- Name and contact details of your next of kin
- Your ethnic origin and religion
- Details of your current situation, reasons for being homeless, housing history and financial situation
- Bank details, and copies of bank statements and payslips
- Medical information, including physical or mental health issues, name of your GP, details of substance use and dietary requirements.
- Immigration status
- Details of State benefit claims
- Employment details
- Criminal convictions
- Information disclosed by you in meetings or conversations with GrowTH employees
- Correspondence about you with or from third party organisations
- Photographs taken of you in the night shelter or other activities connected with GrowTH.
How do we use this information?
We use this information for the following purposes:
- To run the nightshelter and supported housing offered by GrowTH
- To assist you in finding employment
- To assist you in obtaining further accommodation, including in making applications for housing
- To assist you in accessing State benefits
- In some cases, to organise your return to your home country
- To make applications for support for you
- For GrowTH publicity, for example in the GrowTH Annual Report or on the GrowTH website.
Our use of your information as set out above, is permitted under data protection law because it is:
- necessary for our legitimate interests in running the night shelter and supported housing, such interests not being overridden by your privacy interests;
- required to meet our legal responsibilities, such as disclosures to governmental bodies or regulators;
- necessary for the performance of a contract with you, where you are a tenant in our supported housing
- processed with your consent, which we may obtain from you from time to time
Who do we share your information with?
We may share your personal information with employees and volunteers of GrowTH for the purpose of running and administering the nightshelter and other activities undertaken by GrowTH.
Your information is treated as confidential. It will only be shared with third parties where it is necessary for the performance of our tasks or where you first give us your consent. We may need to share your data with the following:
- Referral agencies, such as Whitechapel Mission, Crisis Skylight, Providence Row, Praxis, Spitalfields Crypt Trust, Look Ahead, The Prince’s Trust
- Other nightshelters, such as NewWay, CARIS, Hackney Winter Night Shelter, ROBES, Glass Door, Shelter from the Storm, Crisis at Christmas
- Private landlords, such as Laveen, Antea Lettings, Liberty Housing
- Hostels, such as YMCA East London, YMCA Thames Gateway, Marylebone Women’s Project, Lea Bridge House, Anchor House, Renewal, Queen Victoria’s Seaman’s Rest
- Supported housing, such as Just Homes, Changing Lives Housing Trust, Assisted Homes and Hope Community Homes
- Medical professionals
- Government bodies, such as the Home Office, Police, Probation Service, Embassies and Consulates, Thames Reach and other Local Authorities
- Foodbanks, such as FirstLove Foundation and the Trussel Trust
- Other prospective housing providers or landlords
- Other organisations which work with homeless people, such as the Pret Foundation Trust or Faith Regen Foundation
- Other organisations which are already working with you
How long do we keep your information?
We will keep your personal information for the period set out in our data retention policy. In general, we will keep your information for two more seasons of the night shelter after the season in which you have stayed in the shelter or, if you are in our supported housing, for 6 years after your tenancy ends.
What are your rights?
a. The right to access information we hold on you
At any point you can contact us to request the information we hold on you as well as why we have that information, who has access to the information and where we obtained the information from. Once we have received your request we will respond within one month.
There are no fees or charges for the first request but additional requests for the same data may be subject to an administrative fee.
b. The right to correct and update the information we hold on you
If the data we hold on you is out of date, incomplete or incorrect, you can inform us and your data will be updated.
c. The right to have your information erased
If you feel that we should no longer be using your data or that we are illegally using your data, you can request that we erase the data we hold. This is not a blanket right to require all personal data to be deleted.
When we receive your request we will confirm whether the data has been deleted or the reason why it cannot be deleted (for example because we need it for our legitimate interests or regulatory purposes).
d. Right to restrict processing of data
You have a right to block the processing of your personal data, including if you are disputing its accuracy, have raised an objection to processing (see right below) or the processing is unlawful and you oppose erasure and requests restriction instead. Upon receiving your request, GrowTH will need to determine whether the request should be upheld and, if not upheld, inform you of the reasons for this.
e. The right to object to processing of your data
You have the right to request that we stop processing your data. Upon receiving the request we will contact you and let you know if we are able to comply or if we have legitimate grounds to continue to process your data. Even after you exercise your right to object, we may continue to hold your data to comply with your other rights or to bring or defend legal claims.
f. The right to data portability
You have the right to request that we transfer some of your data to another controller. We will comply with your request, where it is feasible to do so, within one month of receiving your request.
g. The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time for any processing of data to which consent was sought.
Where GrowTH relies on consent for the processing of your personal data, you can withdraw your consent easily by telephone, email, or by post (see contact details below).
h. The right to object to the processing of personal data where applicable.
i. The right not to be subject to automated decisions where the decision produces a legal effect or a similarly significant effect
You have a right not to be subject to a decision which is based on automated processing where the decision will produce a legal effect or a similarly significant effect on you.
j. The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Transfer of information abroad
Any electronic personal data transferred to countries or territories outside the EU will only be placed on systems complying with measures giving equivalent protection of personal rights either through international agreements or contracts approved by the European Union. Our website is also accessible from overseas so on occasion some personal data (for example pictures or stories in the GrowTH annual report) may be accessed from overseas.
Further processing
If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this notice, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.
Contact Details
If you have any questions about this privacy notice or the information we hold about you or if you wish to exercise your rights or make a complaint, you can contact us at admin@thisisgrowth.org.
You can contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/.
Last updated – October 2021